6 August 2007

My daughter was coming for dinner tonight and I wanted to make it a little special. Like the Greeks I make dessert only on special occasions...so, I think this qualified. I was browsing through all the wonderful blogs on the network and came across a pretty looking little tart. I had strawberries..I had chocolate...I had cream cheese..I had a plan. One thing you may have noticed of my blog there are very few sweet "thangs". I think baking requires exacting skills and I am more of a "throw it in and see what happens" girl. I don't get much practice at baking and am also trying to a be a good girl and keep away from too many sweets.

I do drool over all the baking sites and admire all the talented cooks out there. I flag all the wonderful cheesecakes, pies and moist cakes for must tries . Some day when those special occasions arise I might get to all of them. I found this Strawberries and Cream Cheese Tart on Nicole's site Baking Bites . It looked so good I had to try it!!!

It actually turned out. I even had to roll dough which usually causes anxiety and frustration, only because "it never seems to work out!!" The crust is more like shortbread and is quite forgiving. I found that it worked best for me using the food processor during this process. I even put the chocolate in a baggie and cut a little hole in the end to drizzle the melted chocolate. Trying to make it look "perty". I have learned a few things about baking over the years. If it wasn't for my hips I would try and try again more often!!

The night was all about experimentation. My daughter is a willing guinea pig so I tried a few new recipes. We had Watermelon Gazpacho for starters. I came up with my own recipe for this. We rated it a 10! The main course consisted of Poached Salmon with Piquant Sauce, Vegetarian Suffed Peppers(Zeytinyagli Biber Dolma) from Burcu over at Almost Turkish and corn on the cob. The rest is history!

THANKS FOR THE RECIPE NICOLE!!!! Like a proud mamma I took many photos of my "baby".

**Strawberries and Cream Cheese Tart**

Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter

1/4 cup ice water

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Rub in the butter with your fingertips (I am all about the food processor..so pulse) until the mixture is crumbly and resembles wet sand. Stir in water, adding an additional tablespoon if necessary, until dough starts to come together and clumps easily.

2. Press dough into a disc and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper and press into a 9 or 10-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom. Pastry will be a bit thinner with a 10-inch pan.

3. Place tart pan on baking sheet and place a piece of aluminum foil on top of pastry. Fill foil with pie weights (or uncooked beans/lentils) and bake for 12 minutes. (there was no oven temperature so I tried it at 300F)
Remove foil and weights and continue baking for 25 - 30 minutes, until golden brown. (May need an extra minute if using a 10-inch pan).

Oh! What a gorgeous tart! Gosh, you did such a beautiful job with it. I have anxiety when it comes to pastry as well, with the pecan tassie pastry being the only version I've conquered with any degree of confidence. This tart sure does look tempting...both to taste and to try to make. :-)

Brilliant to hear from you! Thanks for your comments. I have to say, this tart has me drooling. Really simple but so good to look at and, I'm assuming, amazing to eat. This one has now cemented on my mind and will be doing it over the Summer. Yes, the summer has started, just!

Have you in my favourites now, thanks for getting in touch, isn't Blogging lovely?

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My blog More Than Burnt Toast has been my passion for almost 9 years and has evolved with me over time as I have gained confidence in the kitchen. Follow my travels through Italy and Greece one recipe at a time, upcoming cooking classes at local Okanagan wineries and restaurants, as well as daily experimentation in my own kitchen. Every day we should be excited about what we are eating even if it just means making use of a wonderful find at our local farmers market. I look forward to getting to know you.